Category Archives: News

I find myself concerned and hesitant to get too excited. While I have been wanting an Apple tablet device for years now, I am afraid for it’s success.

I’ve always loved tablet PCs (owned 2 of them). But I’m not representative of the larger market: tablet computers have remained very niche. Just look at how little press has been given to the HP slate Microsoft unveiled at CES – there’s a good chance you’ve never even heard about it. Even within the tech world it’s been yawned over, not fawned over.

So how will Apple surmount the consumer confusion and indifference that’s prevented tablets from taking off? And even if people like the device, if its price is as high as rumored ($600-$800, some say as high as $1000), it had better do some really fancy new stuff.

I’m also concerned about its rumored tie to a cellphone carrier like Verizon that would require a monthly contract. That would probably be a deal-breaker for me. The last thing I need is another 2 year contract with a monthly bill.

It just seems like there are a lot of things it will need to overcome to be successful so it doesn’t end up like the Apple TV. How many people do you know who own an Apple TV?

My skepticism betrays a deeply held hope that it will be a fantastic product and succeed fabulously, as the iPhone has in the smartphone market – a market which arguably presented more competition than tablet PCs currently do.

Ultimately my dream is to hold a 7″ – 10″ device that allows me to download and read books and comics in color for long stretches of time and to be able to browse the web with Flash (I don’t want Flash anywhere near my phone). On the 27th we’ll see whether they’ve cooked up another hit or their first big miss in a while.

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“Bureaucracy” is not a legitimate issue to raise against a public health care option. As I’ve seen and shared on here, government systems like VA health care (and in the rest of the industrialized world) are actually run more efficiently and are more effective at getting and keeping people healthy. These corporations, who will still exist even after we’ve had a public option created, are gigantic bureaucratic nightmares whose profit motives require them to deny care and coverage.

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>Well thank God. The House AND the Senate both have versions of health care reform plans for implementing a public option. I’m not calling this over or anything but we’re a little closer to extending a life preserver to so many suffering Americans. I look forward to the day we all understand that America is only successful when we bear each others burdens in the name of unity and charity and are not completely ruled by the tyranny of a private system that profits by denying coverage.

Before the NHS was implemented there was a sharp division and many who fought vehemently against it. Now the overwhelming majority of British people think, despite some imperfections, it was for the better and that the government can be of benefit with health care and not a burden.

And it appears that the burden of paying for this new option, as outlined in these initial plans , is very light. You’d have to be an imbecile to think that an additional tax of $1,500 to a family making $500,000/yr. was anything more than a drop in the bucket. The same for a sum of $9,000 for households making $1M or more per year. The brunt of this plan will force only the top 1.2% of wealthy America to bear it. The cost can’t be borne upon the backs of our poor and middle classes and it looks like we’re avoiding that.

Businesses will adapt and the economy will adjust to any increased costs for employers, and small companies would largely be exempt from any penalties. With some rational and logical approaches to problem solving we can make this a reality. Perhaps our life expectancy rates will start to go back up again, what a novel idea: to improve the health of citizens over time instead of leaving them to languish in the hands of corporate fat cats who have no incentive to help those in the most need.

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-Push notifications (FINALLY, instant messaging isn’t useless on the iPhone)-Turn-by-Turn GPS navigation-MMS-Copy/Paste-Stereo bluetooth-landscape keyboard in all apps-Universal search + Spotlight Home screen-YouTube accounts-CalDAV-Auto-fill (no more typing my email address on teh keyboard all da time!)-and on and on and on

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>According to Gizmodo, the official Microsoft Zune forum and several of the Zune fan forums, ALL 30GB Zune models started dying shortly after Midnight last night.

There’s a lot of speculation as to why this is happening and Microsoft has not provided a solution (to be fair it’s only 6:45am in Redmond, WA). They also apparently played a message on their Zune support phone system saying that they weren’t taking calls due to inclimate weather. What a bunch of BS, just admit that you’re overwhelmed with calls, that’s not unheard of.

It is fascinating though that every 30GB Zune would fail across the US all at the same time.

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How…I don’t understand. What a relief! We’re not beckoning to Bush’s call and giving into his unreasonable demands and unrealistically bleak ultimatum that if we didn’t do this immediately, the economy would explode or something. Now let’s put a real plan together that provides aid where it’s needed most: at home, not for the fatcats of Wall Street.

*sigh* We can still do good. I am so uplifted by our awareness and action as Americans to stand up for what’s right and not be hearded along like cattle. It’s good to know that we still hold some sway over how we’re governed. Congratulations to all of us who wrote and called our leaders to block this piece of bologna.